Cold Pursuit Review: 7 Ups & 1 Down

6. Liam Neeson's Grizzled Performance

Neeson has a habit of not putting much effort into his action thriller roles, to the extent that most of these characters feel like they're basically the same person.

But Cold Pursuit is markedly different, and Neeson's more nuanced and compelling performance thankfully matches it.

Above all else, Neeson sells the pain of a bereaved father exceptionally well - perhaps, if we can imply, drawing on his own experiences with familial loss - while his character is far less of a typical action hero, and rarely is he asked to do anything too physical that derails the audience's suspension of disbelief.

You can even argue that Neeson did a better job in the lead than the also-remarkable Stellan Skarsgård, who played the part in the Norwegian original.

He's certainly no worse, excelling as the straight-man to most of the film's grim comedy, and delivering all the grizzled grit you'd both expect and hope for.